EU foreign ministers have reached an agreement to work on sanctions against Russia in connection with the arrest of Putin critic Alexei Navalny and the persecution of the opposition.
This was reported by the German news agency DPA, citing diplomatic sources.
“EU foreign ministers have agreed to push forward work on new sanctions against Russia following the imprisonment of opposition leader Alexei Navalny,” the statement said.
As reported, the next week should determine the legal framework and a specific list of persons to whom sanctions are applied.
The new EU sanctions mechanism for human rights violations, approved in 2020, provides for asset freezes and/or travel restrictions. The Navalny case may be the first time the European Union has involved him.
At the same time, Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said that Russia will take retaliatory measures if the European Union goes for new sanctions.
Russian court found Navalny guilty in the case of allegedly slandering a veteran. Earlier, the opposition leader was left in prison in the case of “Yves Rocher”, but was taken into account in the term of serving a sentence of 1.5 months of house arrest. Thus, in the colony, Navalny remains to spend about 2.5 years.
The discussion of new sanctions comes after EU diplomatic chief Josep Borrel was sharply criticized over a humiliating trip to Moscow when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov used a joint press conference to humiliate the bloc.
